Vul. Zolota, 32 – stadium

ID:
1972

The Stadium
was built between 1933 and 1939 in a hilly part of Lviv known as the
Pylypivka Heights near the Jewish Cemetery on Kleparova. It was
owned by the leading Jewish Athletic Society in Galicia, the Hasmonea
Club, founded by Adolf Konn in 1908. During the Soviet period the
stadium was called Torpedo Stadium. It no longer serves as a sports
facility. A market was opened on the territory in the 1990s, working
there until 2008. Plans to reopen the stadium were never realized.

History

In June 1908 an athlete by the name of Adolf Kohn
spearheaded the formation of a municipal Jewish Gymnastics-Athletic
Association, founding several sport clubs: Dror,
Zenit, Makabi, Yutshenko, Zionit, Akoakh,
and Hasmonea.
The Hasmonea Club – named for the Hasmonead Dynasty, the ancient
manifestation of the Hebrew people’s fight for religious and
political independence – was the leading organization in the
Association. Two years after its founding, Hasmonea joined the
second division of the Austrian Football League of that time, and
finally, in 1927-28, the first division of the Polish League.

The first
sports club of Jewish Gymnastics-Athletic
Association was laid out on Yanivsky Road in the
Levandivka district in 1908,
developing football and track-and-field
teams there. In time
the club expanded and by 1932 boasted squads in 12
different sports (Piłka, 1996, p70).
In the spring of 1920
the Hasmonea Club received permission from
the city magistrate to build its own sports arena on privateland in the Lychakivska Pasika district. On July 7,
1923 the Jewish Community
celebrated the opening
of the newlybuilt stadium
(Orłowicz,
1925, 10, 240). At the time it
was largest sports facility in Lviv
(per V. Gorbay’s city plan,
published 1931, 1938 and 1939). The
stadium could hold 10,000
with seating for 2,000
in the grandstands. The opening was marked with an
internatonal match between Hasmonea and the
Budapest Vivo club.

On
28 November1932 the stadium was lost in a fire. Hasmonea Club leader
Maurycy Richter
championed the cause and the club received land on the Pylylvska
Heights, where the construction of a new stadium was begun,
completing in 1939 (Księga, 1939, 65). Although Hasmonea offered a
number of types of sport, all of them were overshadowed by the Club’s
football team which competed in the Polish Championship League. Its
leading players -Zygmunt
Schteuermann,Izydor Redler,
Ludwik Schneider(Sznajder)
– played for the Polish National Football team. Among other
prominent footballers to play for the club were Filip Schliaff,
Zygmunt
Blumbenblat, Matej Gokh, Maksimilian Gorowitz, Henrich Grubel, Natan
Isaak Zuker (Piłka, 1996, 69-70; Lwów i Wilno, 92-107).

In September
1939 the Hasmonea Club was
disbanded. During the Second World War its territory was
occupied by the Yanivsky concentration
camp. During the Soviet era the stadium was granted
to the Torpedo Sports
Society. In the 1990s,
a clothing market was open on the
territory, operating until 2008.
The territory no longer serves as a sports facility.

Architecture

Today the
former Hasmonea Stadium is neglected. Its
grandstand has
been preserved, but the
field and racing tracks and the stairs leading
to the grandstand are overgrown
with weeds. The columns and
metal gates of the main entrance are still
in place, as well as a one-storey
administrative brick building. The stadium is partially walled in
concrete block. Prior to the 2012 EURO Champonship the city discussed
plans to renovate this architectural sports
herritage site, but the idea wasn’t
realised.

Personalities

Adolf Kohn–
founder and first head of Hasmonea Jewish
Sports Club

Maurycy Richter– Head
of Hasmonea Jewish Sports Club, initiator of the new stadium on
Pylypivksy Heights

Izydor Redle –
Hasmonea Club footballer

Ludwik Sznajder –
Hasmonea Club footballer

Zygmunt Schteuermann
– Hasmonea Club footballer, a participant
in the historic November 1941 “Death Match”